


We keep loving anyway

by asocial_butterfly



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - High School, Background Relationships, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mystery, Secrets, Slow Burn, ill tag as i go - Freeform, shallura - Freeform, they live on one planet but its divided down the middel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2018-12-22 04:10:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11959413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asocial_butterfly/pseuds/asocial_butterfly
Summary: after years of disagreements between the co-inhabitants of salaria, it is time for a new generation to look past their differences and convince their nation that they can live peacefully without war. Meet Keith, crown prince of the galra. He's calm, a little perplexed by humans but also collected, until you put him near an Altean.Lance, the first prince of Altea; younger brother to Allura crown princess of Altea, a human enthusiast, just about ready to flirt with anything or anyone.To strengthening the treaty between the inhabitants of salleria and earth both respective royalties of salleria must attend human school to teach them about humans and their traditions whilst trying not to kill each other.Follow these characters as they uncover the truth surrounding the hatred and tension between their nations.





	1. first day of school

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The feud between the two nations is still going on. However, this generation Galra and Alteans are going to usher in a new age of peace with not only each but with the humans.
> 
> Keith ~ the crowned prince  
> Shiro ~ his attendant, captured from earth when earth tried to start a war against salleria, he chose to stay once the treaty was put in place then given a new arm after losing his original arm to an earth soldIer who called him a traitor.  
> Allura ~ crowned princess  
> Lance ~ younger brother of Allura  
> Hunk ~ human  
> 

It was the morning of Keith's first day at school and he was attending one of the most pristine educational facilities on earth, Voltron high. Why would he be late? Shiro thought as he waited by the space jump. He occasionally looking around to see if he could spot the wayward prince. Soon running out of patience he pulled out a flat disk looking device about as wide as his palm and a cm thick, it emitted a dull pink light as it gently levitated above his hand in sync with the metallic bracelet wrapped securely around his right wrist.

''tela com contact Prince Keith'' he relayed to the artificial intelligence as the devices dull light glowed brighter notifying Shiro that it understood his instructions and contacted the prince. 

''good morning Shiro sorry I'm late'' the less than perky voice said over the device, '' I'll be there in a sec'' he said, ending the call and true to his words Keith didn't waste any more time as Shiro was able to spot him a few meters away. ''what held you back, you're usually on time to things'' Shiro said once Keith got closer. They hurriedly got onto the space jump and set its cores for earth including the address for their new school.

''Shiro in case you couldn't tell, I don't really feel the need to interact with humans. Can you blame me, every time we've been involved with them they always want to start something'' he huffed. ''Well that's just what humans do, we are sceptical of things we don't understand. But you must know not all humans are the same'' Shiro tried to reason.

''Same or not I don't want to have to deal with their constant staring'' he mumbled, as his lilac colored hands came up to his ears slightly petting them down then pulling his black hood up to shield his face from the uncountable glare of the lights lining the space jump.

''Don't worry I doubt any one's gonna make fun of your ears'' the voice of Keith's most trusted friend was coated with fondness ''That's not the only thing, what about those Alteans, you remember we still have to school with them, that's double the annoyance'' ''honestly Keith, you're meant to be ushering in the new era of peace with both the Alteans and humans'' Shiro tilted his head towards Keith a slightly disapproving look on his face ''that means you need to get along with them both'' he paused ''play nice we're here now.''

Once the space jump opened both Shiro and Keith stepped out, making their way to the front of the school. Keith could clearly hear the whispers from people who wondered what nation he was part of on saleria. Their questions were soon answered as Keith he pulled his hood down, there were barely audible gasps at the sight of his purple tinted skin, the illumines pink gem melded into his right hand, the sign of the royal family.

''well I guess it's better to get this over with'' Keith sighed, the obvious gaping on the other students part making him uncomfortable.

~

~

~ 

''Why are you so excited Lance? It's just high school, there's nothing special except for the fact that those galra barbarians will be joining us.'' The white haired teen raged at her younger brother.  
''If I'm honest that's one of the reasons I'm so excited, I've never met the prince of The galra or any galra so this will be fun. I've heard that he's very strong both physically and mentally I admire that and I'm sure you can too. He can stand his ground and doesn't take things lightly that's something I respect him for regardless of his species.'' Lance stated, smiling at his older sister.

''Wait don't tell me your actually going to interact with them, the prince has no sense of common manners, he speaks when not spoken to and from what I've heard he is foul mouthed'' Allura said as she crossed his arms over her chest and rolled his eyes, fanning her self furiously with her decorative fan. However unfortunately for Lance, his sister was nowhere near done with her rant. ' 'Out of all the school they put him in it just had to be the same as us, this seems too fishy to be a coincident, this is probably some kind of ploy by their king'' she went on.

''Firstly I don't think either one of us can say anything about being foul mouthed'' Lance said laughing. ''And you don't really believe that we were made just to hate each other it's obvious some thing happened to cause this whole thing,'' he said referring to the strained relationship between the two nations. '' Well that's obvious you, something did happen, weren't you paying attention in your history class? the galra killed prince Alister for no reason other than their cruel, blood driven minds.'' ''Oh please don't lecture me, sis. Of course, I know that version but I highly doubt they killed King Cornell's eldest son for no reason that's just absurd.'' Lance argued refusing to believe the words of his Sister.

Allura sighed in exasperation. '' Well it's the truth. we can even visit the museum if you'ed like and then you can look for your self, they tell the story better than any one, there the reasons the crystal dragon disappeared.'' 

''See that's another thing I never really got. what exactly happened to the dragons, did they just up and vanished after Prince Alister's death?.'' The taller boy asked

''Well I'm sorry to say, even I don't know where they've gone, but it happened after the death of prince Alister so it must have been due to the galras murder of our prince.'' ''you know more than anyone that I won't be satisfied with that answer'' Lance said giving his sister a sceptical look.

''oh trust me i know.'' She said rolling her eyes fondly ''How about this, our father once told me that 'if the wrongs of the past are righted then the dragons will return'.'' Allura stated. ''And that means?'' Lance asked one eyebrow lifted in uncertainty ''perhaps if the galra would apologize for their animalistic behaviours then the dragons would come back'' Allura shrugged as they made their way into the space jump fully aware that they were already late.

After they both got to the high school had already missed a majority of the first lesson so decided to wait till the next one and just look around the empty halls of the pristine educational facility. Not long after the bell for second-period and not paying enough attention to where he was walking, Lance managed to bump into a shorter male accompanied by a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblur: [https://asocial-butterfly.tumblr.com/]()  
> my insta : [https://www.instagram.com/asocial_butterfly/?hl=en]()
> 
> next chapter comes out the 7th of September, the day I go back to school o(〒﹏〒)o  
> and after that, hopefully, I'll have a weekly upload schedule.


	2. The school day proceeds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HERES THE NEW CHAPTER ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ  
> They get on with the school day, new people are introduced and Lance realizes he might have some minor problems in his class, luckily someone comes to his rescue. ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who helps Lance ┐(︶▽︶)┌  
> Next chapter comes out on Thursday the 14th September.

After gathering his senses Lance finally spoke ''I'm so sorry, I never pay atten-'' his train of words was cut off as he stared at the shorter male stood opposite him with a less than amused face. '' Well hello there, I'll take a wild guess and say that because of your lovely lilac complexion you're galra'' Lance said with a mischevious smirk gracing his features 

''he's not just any galra, you are speaking to the crowned prince.'' the two toned haired male next to Keith said, a hint of excitement etched into his voice. This new discovery made lance shine with glee. '' that's even better I've always wanted to meet the prince of the galra. he spoke sincerely as he bowed courteously as a sign of respect for fellow royalty. '' Firstly I think it's best I introduce my sister, crowned princes, Allura Atlan of Altea and I am her younger brother Prince Lance. it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.'' Lance said politely.

''I would like to say the same but I'm not fond of lying'' the dark haired boy said with a roll of his golden eyes, this causes Allura to immediately harbor a strong dislike for Keith. ''There's no need for the rude tone your highness'' Allura spat ''My brother was just being nice which is more than I could say of you''

Before the situation could get any more heated, Shiro stepped in front of Keith ''I'm very sorry on the prince's behalf, these are new circumstances he's just adjusting, we're truly glad to make your acquaintance'' Shiro bent ever so slightly at the waist as a sign of respect for someone of higher status.

''Well I'm glad to see not everyone on that side is completely void of manners'' Allura snapped. ''Why of course not your highness, we are all meant to set a good example for our nations by getting along. I hope it is not out of my bounds to ask how you're both finding the school day so far'' Shiro asked politely, his less than hostile tone made Allura almost feel bad for giving him such a stern face when it was obvious he was trying to be nice.

''well we actually have not attended any lessons yet, my brother was on his way to his economics class and I'm off to biology, what about the both of you?'' Allura asked. It was only the polite thing to ask of them as well.

The four started down to the economics hall, all trying their hardest to ignore the looks they got from their fellow students, perhaps purchasing less distracting clothes may benefit them, Allura considered.

''Well you're certainly lucky the first thing in the day is homeroom, nothing really interesting just introductions, formalities and what not, you'll most likely deal with that tomorrow morning.The Prince and I are going to technology next as I am his attendant I attend all the same lessons as him'' Shiro stated ''ah that's quite convenient, I wish me and Allura were in all the same lessons but I think we only have 3 lessons through out the week'' Lance interjected wanting to make friends with the Prince's attendant, he seemed to not care for whether they were Alteans or not.

~

~

~  
once the four dropped lance at his economics class they continued on, only now did lance realize that not once did Keith speak and he would most likely not. Lance turned into his class going to say hello to his new teacher. ''Good morning sir, I'm a new student I'm not quite sure how this works'' Lance chuckled scratching the back of neck. ''ah yes I was notified of you and your sister joining out school prince lance'' ''just lance is fine, thank you'' ''yes of course well we'll just introduce you once the rest of the class in here''. lance shifted to the side of the class to wait for his new class mates, he eagerly fiddled with his bell like sleeves that hung loosely on him. 

Once the class filled up the teacher motioned for lance to come towards the front of the class, which he followed without question. ''class I'm sure you're all aware that we will be having some very important guests joining our school, this is Prince Lance Atlan of Altea, he will be joining us for the year, make him feel very welcomed at our school. lance do you have anything you would like to say to the class before hand'' the teacher was so kind as to ask ''no not really, just that I'm excited to participate in the school year'' ''lovely that's the kind of attitude I like to see, we've actually got a new seating plane, ill get that up on the board and everyone seated get into the correct placements'' the teacher continued to Fidel with the laptop on his desk until a white sheet with rectangles representing the tables came up on the holographic board with students names.

at once the students got up shuffling to the designated seats, with a few groans and grumbles some even asking if they could switch places, to which the answer was a swift no. Lance took a long look at the board, after the treaty of peace between earth and Sallaria all Sallarians were required to learn the dominant language of earth, however lance never got very good at reading it, speaking was one thing reading another as embarrassing as it was he couldn't really decipher what the English letters meant. As embarrassed as he was he needed to ask for help so he turned to a tanned boy making his way to a seat on the second row. ''Uhm hi, this is a bit out there but could you help me find my seat, I'm not very good at reading English I should have probably at least learned to spell my name huh'' he laughed awkwardly as he looked at the boy hoping he wouldn't think Lance was strange.

''yeah no problem'' the boy took a look at the board and turned back to lance ''your in the seat behind me'' the boy took a seat in the second row and pointed his thumb to the chair behind his, Lance smiled at him with gratitude and took a seat. the tanned boy turned around extending his hand ''the names hunk'' Lance shook his hand and smiled back, reintroducing him self.

''so if you can't read English very well how are you gonna survive the school Year'' he asked curiously. ''I'll have to just listen to this lesson, maybe during break ill get some one from home to send me a translator tab or something'' he answered now thinking of exactly what else he may need for school to ask Coran to space jump down for him. ''wow you can ask some one to do that, like home as in on sallaria'' he asked bringing his voice down to a whisper as the teacher started uploading things onto the holographic board. ''yes it might come in handy this school year I'll most likely forget a lot of things, hopefully I get better at this''' he laughed and hunk joined in as well.

''so like how you can speak English but not read or write it'' ''ah well Alteans are naturally good at absorbing languages, it won't take me too long to get it it's just in the recent months my sister and I had to attend a lot of meeting with the United Nations discussing us coming to school so i never got the reading and writing aspects of English'' he flush with embarrassment. ''wow that's pretty cool, if you have any languages classes your gonna ace them'' hunk smiled as he turned around to concentrate on the lesson. lace typed up the parts of the lesson he understood in his native language.  
~

~

~

once the lesson was over hunk turned around with his holograph pad he used to type up the notes, ''hey lance if you want I could upload the notes I took to your holographic tab and you can change the language...that is if alien tech works with earth stuff'' Lance took a look a look at both tabs, they looked similar enough, except lances holographic keyboard and screen glowed blue unlike hunks which emitted a dull orange glow. ''yeah I'm sure it should work'' they put their tabs next to each other and hunk clicked the share notes option then swiped his hand towards the direction of lances tab, lance then changed the language with a wave of his hand. 

''wow you just have to wave at it to operate it?'' hunk asked, obviously stumped buy Sallarian tech ''yes and no, the bracelet is connected to a lot of technology I have, it's like an AI so I just kind of have to think it and it does it. depending on what I'm using.'' both boys stood and made their way out of class. after answering hunks question, lance pulled out his tela com quickly sending a message to coran asking if he could space jump a translator, to which he replied instantaneously with a call. ''I hope you don't mind me taking this'' Lance gestured to the circular disk. ''no problem'' hunk relaid. ''thank you'' Lance answered the call and the bubbly voice of Coran came. ''Lance Caine Atlan, did you not finish my instruction video on the English language'' Lance winced because he did in fact not get through the video, it was too obnoxious ''I got through the speaking part, not the reading or writing, we had a lot of things to do remember, sorry ill get it done but can you still send down the translator, a class mate of mine was nice enough to upload his notes for me'' ''ah that's nice of them, yes I shall send you some thing, I hope you and your sister are keeping out of trouble?'' ''Yes coran we are'' Lance said.

their conversation ended soon after, Lance turned back to hunk ''so break is 25 minutes, what what are we required to do?'' he asked, perplexed. ''well nothing much it's just kind of free time, we can go to the second floor and you can meet one of my friends, kind on get your self with the school'' ''that would be great thanks'' they walk to the second floor where the year below them went to class. As they got there a short female with equally short hair bounded up to us. ''great job hung you've already befriended the alien now I won't have to go ask him questions if he's your friend'' ''Uhm I'm right here'' Lance said. ''heh uh pidge this is lance, lance this is pidge she's pretty interested in sallaria and the kind of tech you guys use'' hunk introduced lance to the shorter girl who he now knew as Pidge. ''greetings pidge, nice to meet you'' pidge gave him a look ''uhu ok, can we head down to the bottom floor i hate dealing with my year come on. The trio made their way down the stairs, dodging numerous students, as they got to the bottom of the stairs lance spotted a familiar head of snow white hair ''Allura'' he called out waving frantically to his sister, who was still being accompanied by the galra prince and his attendant, Allura was quickly able to spot her brother, what with him being the only other person with white hair. ''Lance, how are you, how was your lesson'' she questioned ''I'm fine, the lesson was fine, I also made some friends, all in all, today has been pretty good so far. Hunk, Pidge this is my sister Allura, Sis this is Hunk, he helped me in class and this is pidge'' greeting were exchanged by all. Hunk proceeded to lead the three aliens, one attendant...and pidge towards a circular table where two other students sat, both blond, one male the other female, 'looks like I'll be meeting more people' both lance and Allura thought simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID ANYONE THINK KEITH WOULD HELP LANCE IN HIS CLASS (⊙_⊙)  
> I wanted to lead people on (^_~)  
> the next chapter will probably involve a lot more keith, btw who do you think the two at the table are ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿  
> [https://asocial-butterfly.tumblr.com/]()  
> [https://www.instagram.com/asocial_butterfly/?hl=en]()


	3. Keiths human interactions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HERES THE NEW CHAPTER, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE READING.
> 
> The twins say hi. (*・ω・)ﾉ (*・ω・)ﾉ  
> Keith interacts with humans and the likes.  
> lance has a love for drama class  
> someone invites someone else over for something happening next week ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to get a tablet and make some art for this cuz I have some ideas. (=^･ω･^=), but for now you'll have to deal with my just above average digital art done from my Sony phone, it's on my tumbler and Instagram now, which I will leave in the end notes.  
> 

The group walks over, lead by hunk to a table already occupied by two other students, the where pale in complexion and had matching frost blond hair. when seating them selves on the table, Lance and Allura sat on one-half of the table with Prince Keith and his attendant whilst hunk and pidge joined the two other humans on the other half.

introductions were made and Allura and the others found out that the two at the table where Nyma and Rolo, twins. Keith made the discovery that Rolo would be in his next class, the twins seemed nice enough if not a little on the creepy side according to Keith.

''How have you been finding earth so far'' Nayma asked lance whilst Allura engaged in conversation with pidge about Altean tech. ''it's been good, I've been home schooled for all my life its interesting to be doing the complete opposite'' ''that's nice, well if you have any questions ide be happy to answer them'' the conversation ended there, it was a little harder to converse with Nyma than it was with hunk, who right now seemed to be talking with Shiro Keiths attendant. That only left Keith, who looked to be in an uncomfortable situation as Rolo tried to talk with him.

''so prince Keith how has your day been'' Lance asked. Keith looked stunned that Lance would ask but seemed more relieved that Lance talked to him as it made Rolo temporarily stop. ''it's been frankly uneventful, the classes are relatively easy and there isn't much combat training so nothing really of interest''

Lance was surprised to hear so many words come out of the prince sat next to him, but did not falter ''ah so its true Then? that the prince engages in physical training at least once a day?'' Lance asked eager to keep the conversation going. ''yes mostly just as stress relief, I'm sure you know as well as I the hard ships of bearing the royal name'' and indeed he did. 

''so whats it like being royalty'' Rolo interjected taking both princes by surprise, it's a question that gets asked less than you think it would. Lance spoke up first ''well it is fairly stressful, but I'm sure I just have the half of it as I'm not crowned prince like Prince Keith here but I will say there are a lot of perks, so that evens out the stress'' Lance smiled glancing at Keith to gage his reaction, the dark haired boy did not seem to have any noticeable reaction to lances comment he did, however, proceed to answer Rolo's question. ''It involves a lot of being told 'someday you will care for all these people' so that can get quite annoying at times. other than that its ok, it's not something in think about all that often considering I was born into the role so I am fully aware of my responsibilities it's practically second nature'' he finished off.

''yeah I agree, when it's something you're used to you don't really think about the fact that others may not understand how you're just so used to it. perhaps that is why we've been sent to go to school here in Voltron high, to give us a different perspective'' Lance chimed in, happy to see him and the Prince were on the same page about their respective roles.

''so does that mean you'll be going other places to get 'a different perspective' like to different countries or different places of power?'' Rolo asked. He seemed very interested in exactly what Lance and Keith would be doing on earth.

''As far as I know we are just focusing on school right now, if I remember correctly we might be taking up jobs in different facilities next year and staying at the house of presidency for a leadership course but I'm not even sure I'm allowed to say too much about that'' Lance thought ''have you been told about our future planes prince Keith'' he asked.

''As you said I'm also not allowed to say much. And just Keith is fine, we are of similar ranks'' Keith said, it wouldn't hurt for him to attempt to get along with the Altean prince after all that was what he was meant to do. conversations carried on smoothly, with all eight of them and soon enough the bell for third period rang, Rolo offered to wait for Keith as he packed his things up as they were heading to the same class, this was much to Keith's dismay.

they quicks said their farewells and went off in different directions, leaving him an Rolo the only ones walking to Art class together, something about this Rolo guy just made him instinctively uncomfortable but that might have just been the general weariness he had with all humans, excluding Shiro, who had been called out to the front of the school to pick up Keiths lunch.

''So Keith, how are your creative skills cuz I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail this class'' Rolo asked trying to engage in casual conversation with the less than enthusiastic galra prince. ''that depends on the form of creativity'' a short reply, that didn't stop Rolo from continuing his mostly one sided conversation till they got to their art class.

Rolo made his way to his seat and the teacher politely asked for Keith to stand at the front for introductions. ''good morning everyone good to see you're all ready for class this school year we will be focused very heavily on traditional mediums for the first half then digital art for the second between w will get around to virtual reality paintings. aside from that we have a new student joining our school I hope you all make him feel welcomed why don't you introduce your self''

''my name is Keith and I come from the planet salaria, uhm'' he paused, its the third time he's had to do this, and he still isn't sure what he's supposed to say, not to mention Shiro isn't here to help.

And like the universe answered his calls the class door opened very gently reviving a slightly flushed Shiro ''sorry to interrupt'' he came in with a black and pink back pack with gold pins hanging of off one shoulder. ''yes do come in, I take it you are Shiro, we were just getting through introductions please join us'' she gestured to where Keith was still stood, not knowing what to say, to which Shiro was nice enough to reintroduce the both of them.

Keith was placed between Rolo and Shiro and the class went on with out any disturbances, this year's focus leading to the final project was portraits, the first lesson was just focusing on angles and light and shadows, by the end of the lesson Shiro had commented on Keiths natural talent with art.

~

~

~

the lesson ended and then moved on to lesson four, to which Keith only shared with Shiro, and he was glad. physics was very much child's play for Keith, honestly, most subjects on earth were child's play and overly simplified it made thing very boring for him. he was beyond glad once the lesson ended. that only left lunch then three more lessons, Keith and Shiro met up with their earlier group on rectangular table this time and sat in the same way they did the first time excluding Nyma and hunk who had an English catch up to attend due to failing not reaching their highest potential, the first half of the table was, pidge, Rolo and Shiro the other half Allura, Lance then keith.

''so what lesson were you guys just in'' Lance chirped, once everyone had gotten their lunch, he seemed to have also picked something up from home, most likely buy space jump, it was a traditional Altean dish. a flood of answers came the last two to answer being Keith and Shiro. ''art then physics, which frankly was too easy it was it drove me mad'' stated Keith ''haha really, I don't know how well I would do with physics. Allura and I just got out of double drama and I think that might be my favourite lesson so far, we did a lot of 'still life scenes' which were fun but kind of hard when Allure keep trying to make me laugh.''

the table fell into comfortable small talk, mostly getting to know each other, Shiro and Allura obviously hitting it off evidently. Keith and lance engaging in small talk here and there and filling pidges head with wild fantasies of different tech. it did not go un noticed by Keith that Rolo was actively trying to have a conversation with just him and no one else he did, however, ignore his pursuits in favour of talking to pidge and lance.

~

~

~

The school day had finally come to an end and lance and Allura headed to their space jump before entering through Lance asked allura to wait then quickly sprinted back to the front of the school, where amongst several other students were leaving he spotted Keith and Shiro and ran up to them. ''hello again, I wanted to ask if you would be ok attending alteas renewal festival next weekend. It's quite short notice and out of the blue but I'm sure you would enjoy it immensely.'' lance said in one breath, the prince blanched at him eyes wide and expression un changing.

''we would be delighted to attend your highness'' it was Shiro who spoke first, his ever present smile there. ''yes I suppose it's best to start this era of peace as soon as possible'' Keith said, his diplomatic voice on show, after all this is all business. he extended his right hand to lance expecting a hand shack but was instead granted a peck on the hand by the altean prince.

''I'm glad you accept my invitation, nothing would make me happier than to get along with you'' Keiths lilac toned face dipped more into the pink scale, as he flushed at the sudden show of affection from the white haired prince. ''I guess ill be seeing you tomorrow'' Lance bid farewell and made his way back to his sister who gave him a look. ''what exactly did you just do lance'' she asked, to which he replied by putting a single finger to his mouth, ''I'll tell you when we get home.

they both got onto the space jump and were off to their home planet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually take art at a GCSE level and we rarely get to explore other mediums out side of traditional unless your project is solely digital or involves digital manipulation.  
> Sorry to say the next chapter will not be out until the 28th of September Thursday.
> 
> my tumbler for more updates: [https://asocial-butterfly.tumblr.com/]()  
> my instagram for art and updates :[https://www.instagram.com/asocial_butterfly/?hl=en]()


	4. I need to ask you something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ, SUBSCRIBED TO THE WORK OR LEFT A KUDOS.
> 
> Lance and Allura have a talk  
> Keith chats with his parents  
> going to the museum?
> 
> ''uhm whats with you exchanging lovesick looks with tall, dark and robotic over there sis''

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was hard, not for any particular reason just the fact that I couldn't be asked, it took me a lot longer, what with school looming over my head and I just didn't want to do anything but lay down and read fanfic. but I also really wanted to progress the plot cuz I have a lot of the revelations planned out and listening to countless klance playlists on Spotify, musical soundtracks and Lana de rel really got me through the chapter idk why or how.
> 
> (⌒_⌒;)

The white haired siblings, marched up the hall ways of the castle. ''so lance, anything you want to tell me '' Allura asked with a knowing look on her face. ''oh yeah, the whole prince Keith situation.'' he paused to turn to his sister, looking around to check for passer-bys.

Quickly pulling his sister to the closest room to them, a library that had probably not been used in a while. ''well if you must know dear sister of mine, I invited the prince and his attendant to our renewal festival.''A long pause fell between the siblings before Allura finally spoke.

''You did not do what I think I just heard'' the asked, disbelief etched into her face. ''Lance why in quiznaks sake would you do that'' ''well we got along with them fairly well so I thought why not. If we don't show any signs of change in our tolerance of the galra out people will continue to feigned ignorance and the tension will not disappear'' Lance stated, hoping his sister would see things from his perspective.

''Lance tolerance is very different to erasing countless decades of dispute, you can't simply expect our people to accept such brash decision, do you want to start an out right war.'' ''Yes i am aware of the difference between tolerance and years of dispute, but you know as well as I that these spats must come to an end and you can't tell me that you didn't enjoy spending most of the day with the prince and his attendants, their not as bad as you made them out to be. why can't we just give this a chance''.

The question of why seemed to have stumped the princess, why indeed could her people not seem to be able to look past a history that is still faulty in many ways. why indeed was she herself so unaccepting of her fellow salarians, after all, they were all made up of the same cosmic dust and in a strange intertwined kind of way, they're all one and the same.

But how could you blame her, being a princess she's been taught to protect and lead her people, that includes protecting them from the galra, their so called enemies.

''Lance I know you want to initiate change, but perhaps inviting the prince of a people we are not on best terms so abruptly isn't the best way to do that. it's best to start small with things like this'' she sighed. ''what could possibly be smaller than that, he would be attending a festival we hold every month where a lot of locals we be there to see the price getting along with us and see that he and his people can be friendly if given the chance'' ''I know, I know. really I understand but not everyone will take things like this lightly, we have to think about the more extreme citizens who might not take to well to having a galra in our festival''

''Well it's too late now, whats done is done, the prince will be coming to the festival, and he will be with us the whole time, no one would try anything too outlandish. what was the whole point of this 'going to earth thing' '' he asked ''as a learning experience and to get along with humans'' she replied, slightly unsure if that was the answer her brother was looking for ''yes that but also to come to peace with the galra, Allura we are leading our people into a new era, taking them out of their comfort zones, we cant expect them to eminently get along, in fact, w should prepare for countless uproars but that's part of change, good or bad'' Lance finished off, his sister in slight shock at her younger brothers maturity.

''I suppose you're right, I'm just a bit worried, you know me'' she said, and of course, lance could understand Allura's hesitation, the pressure of being future ruler always sat prominently on her shoulders. The siblings continued to converse, mostly about their school day and touching up on how they were going to inform their father about their surprise guest.  
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The tapping of slightly heeled boots down the fluorescent pink lit hall echoed and filled the silence between the prince and his attendant. They got to the prince's chambers and paused right outside the overly decorated door. ''what is this festival even about? is there particular attire that needs to be worn? would my being there offend anyone? ugh Shiro I'm starting to think agreeing was a bad idea'' the teen fussed. ''now, now Keith, this would be a great way to settle things between the nations, and I'm sure you can see the prince and princess are not what the older generation of the galra think they are.'' Shiro reasoned.

They turned and opened the door to Keith's room stepping in and closing the door. ''in fact I think it would be even better if we invite them over for a bit of an introduction to your father and mother, a business meeting of sorts'' ''I highly doubt my parents would be willing, it would just anger them and that's the last thing we need. maybe later in this 'new era'. I'll go I'm just a bit frazzled about the social etiquette expected at theses sorts of things'' the galra price was stumped at how he was meant to act around a people he has been brought up to despise and look down on for their supposed sly and deceitful behaviour, things he hadn't picked up on when meeting the princess and prince.

''well if you're not sure about that I can arrange a crash course on altean etiquette, and you could always ask the prince and the princess about it at school'' Shiro suggested.

''There is always is the option of asking them, but I don't want it to seem like I'm not even trying to learn about their culture'' the prince moaned ''no I'm sure that will show them you're eager to learn, you're just over thinking'' Shiro smiled at the young prince wondering how someone in such a position of power could doubt themselves as much as Keith but then again he is just a teenager...by galra standards.

''if the subject comes up, then ill ask'' Keith said, still unsure about his decision to go to the festival. ''Excellent. look at you making friends, and to think you were so against this in the beginning'' Shiro smiled at Keith, who gave him a strange look, then replied ''I guess I was expecting them to be a little more hostile towards us'' he mumbled.

Their conversation was cut short by a gentle knock at the door, they glanced at each other before shiro let the new comer on the other side of the door come in. Stood there was a servant, head down, hands folded in front of them. ''young master, your parents request that you join them at the dinner table''. As soon as the servant relayed the message he had been ordered to give, he left.

'Now why would his parents possibly want to see him' Keith thought, but none the less he left his room and made his way to his parents, perplexed at what could warrant their sudden need to talk to him. The dark haired prince stopped right in front of the grand, he took a deep breath, placed his hand against the scanner and the door split down the middle letting him into the room.

As soon as he stepped in the tension grew tenfold. ''father, mother, you called?'' ''ah yes, we did indeed. come in son, take a seat, why so stiff ?'' His father asked. Keith complied and pulled the seat closest to his parents. ''so, you wanted to talk to me'' ''yes, you see I heard you had quite a day at school today, and even met the princess and her brother'' Keith froze, well of cores his father had someone other than Shiro follow him to school, after all, he didn't have faith in him as future ruler.

''Yes, and I take it you had me tailed the whole day in order to acquire that information'' Keith retorted ''putting it like that makes it sound dirty and uncouth son, I was simply looking after you, any how, what was the princess like, is there any real reason to be civil towards her and her conniving people.'' he leaned his armored elbows onto the table, and his head rested on his folded palms.

''As far as I can tell, the princess and her brother are willing to be civil with us if we show them the same curtessy, her brother especially'' and for the first time during his conversation, his mother speaks ''ah the prince, what is that one like, I've only had the pleasure of seeing his sister once or twice''. ''he seems fond of interacting with people, that's as much as I know of him, he did, however, invite me to a festival next week'' Keith said, eyeing his parents for their reaction.

''I see, so you two are more or less on the path to friendship ?'' his mother asked ''I don't know for sure, but he seems very nice and willing to put our differences behind us'' Keith replied ''Oh please, he's playing you like an interstellar record, you don't actually buy his pretences, do you? that's what they all do. this proves to me you're still not ready to take this throne and you won't be for decades to come. Do not make the same mistakes our ancestors made by trusting those Alteans, you're fully aware of how that played out for them.'' his father finished off.

''Father, if they truly were conniving and untrustworthy as you've said they were whats to say they haven't changed, or what gives you the right to pin such accusations on every single Altean. You're being absurd father, this is a new era of peace with our neighbouring nation, if we were all put on one planet why can't we get along?'' he asked sincerely. ''listen to me Keith, its understandable that you wouldn't comprehend what centuries of dispute truly feels like, at my age I've never seen them change their deceitful ways, so what makes you think that you could possibly see them change''.

And that was that Keith was sent back to his room without a second word. The day that had gone so well ended with a downer.

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The next morning all students, including the salerian guests were bright and early for school. Keith and Shiro were on their way to homeroom, ''you Wouldnt believe it, Shiro, he actually accused me of not being ready, yes I know I can't rule right now, but DECADES?! seriously that's ridiculous'' Keith whined, relaying the events that had taken place the night before.

''I mean I get it, he doesn't want to trust the Alteans but if they are doing nothing wrong to us now why fight each other'' Keith finished off, slightly flushed from exasperation, he was tired of his father's ancient way of thinking. His, annoyance was cut short as history repeated its self and he felt himself collide with another body. ''we really shouldn't keep meeting like this your highness'' Lance said helping the shorter prince up from the ground, a small smile on his face. Keith accepted lances offer and dusts himself off before looking the other prince in the eyes ''ah yes, that seems to be happening more than it should'' he huffed fondly.

''good morning, to both of you, seems you're on time today'' Shiro says playfully. ''indeed we are, and we can finally have a home room session.'' Allura said, ''speaking of which, do you know where room 231 is, I believe it's Mr Slav sabertooth's classroom.'' Lance asked.

Keith and Shiro paused to look at one another with mirroring expressions before Shiro spoke. ''well aren't you lucky, that happens to be our homeroom class'' Shiro says laughing at the coincidence. it was like the universe was pulling all the stops to ensure that all four of them were in contact.

The four students made their way to homeroom engaging in light conversation, Allura turned to Shiro ''so whats this teacher like'' she asked, Keiths laugh suddenly fills the silence, it was low and raspy but one of the most endearing laughs Lance had ever heard, he was stumped. ''go ahead Shiro, tell them all about our homeroom teacher'' Keith said with a mischevious smile. lance picked up on Keith's sarcasm and replied ''I'm guessing you're not too fond of the teacher huh'' his sentence directed at Shiro, who now sported a look of displeasure.

''i have nothing against the guy, he just rubs me the wrong way'' he replied ''LIES, he got all up in shiros face asking him about his arm, and how the atmosphere pressure on salaria compares to earth, or whether Shiro believed that there was another alternate reality that he was born galra, and just being super invasive'' Keith elaborated.

They all arrived at their destination, Allura and lance having to go through the same ordeal they went through the day before and introduce themselves then took a seat in the table on the right of Shiro and Keith. Homeroom went on, with Shiro and Allura locking eyes every once in a while, sharing bashful smiles with one another. Their behaviour did not go unnoticed by the princes on either side of them, and Lance proceeded to get some answers.

''uhm whats with you exchanging lovesick looks with tall, dark and robotic over there sis'' Lance smirked as he whispered. Alluras eyes grew twice their size ''what..no what do you mean love sic, lance behave your self, I would never'' ''uhu, you only lose your composure when you try to hide shit.'' Lance replied, eyeing his sister but choosing to focus on their homeroom teacher instead.

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lesson after lesson, they go on with the school day, Lance and Hunk, talking in whatever lesson they shared, pidge making sure she points and yells whenever she sees Keith, mostly to make him flustered once he realises other students look at him, Rolo getting to know Keith's likes and dislikes. Overall everyone was getting along and lunch break was quickly approaching.

''hunk, I know this seems quite sudden, but I need some help'' Keith said, as he exited his lesson with Hunk, and Shiro at his side. ''yeah what do you need man'' ''well, you seem to be close to lance, or well as close as someone can get to another in a day and a half, it's just, I wanted to ask him about Altean culture, he invited Shiro and I to a festival that seems quite important and I don't want to make him regret asking me by offending anyone, but I don't know how to go about asking him'' they approached the table ''I think you should just ask him, it seems like a big deal, so if there's something thing you need to know you should just ask him, oh speaking of lance her he comes, just ask him'' hunk, places both hands just below Keith's shoulders spinning him to face Lance ''Lance Keith need to ask you for help on something'' he says. it's silent as the rest of the table gets their, curious faces all around. it was a situation Keith never thought he would find himself in. How is he meant to ask about this?.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Lance why in quiznaks sake would you do that'' me: for plot purposes Allura, duh
> 
> next chapter will be up tomorrow and be slightly shorter because it was meant to be part of this chapter in my planning notes, but after that, it's back to Thursday updates.
> 
> my tumbler: [https://asocial-butterfly.tumblr.com/]()  
> my instagram : [https://www.instagram.com/asocial_butterfly/?hl=en]()
> 
> If you have any suggestions id be glad to hear them, I hope I'm not moving too fast for a slow burn.


	5. the museum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Educational outings and fluff....ish  
> someones acting funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably gonna be slowing down with the updates, mostly cuz I've got mock exams coming, lol I'm gonna fail I haven't revised at all.
> 
> anyways hope you guys like the way the story is progressing, it's not really much of a mystery right now, hopefully, it gets better.

Lance focused on Keith, his smile open and comforting. ''fire way Keith'' Lance said as the rest of the table sat down, half paying attention to lance and Keith who had both sat down now. Keith angled himself towards lance. ''well I was going to ask if there was anything I need to know about the Altean culture, for your renewal festival that is. it seems quite important so I don't want our era of peace to start with me pissing of your locals''

Keith laughed his comment of in an attempt to look calmer, and it seemed to have worked, considering lance hadn't questioned him about it.

''oh I get you, yeah there's not much really, and its mostly just a lot of reenactments, food, singing, dancing. its a day of remembrance and history. but if you are interested, we could do a little bit of an educational outing'' lance had the smallest trace of a smirk lingering on his lips as he suggested the outing to a now confused Keith.

''educational outing?'' he furrowed his brows at lance. ''well, yesterday morning my sister made a throwaway comment about how I need a bit of a history lesson, I don't know about you but I find history is much more exciting when you explore it with someone else. if your free we could head over to the Altean national history museum this weekend, and I can school you on a thing or two about your neighbours'' lance laughed heartedly, his tan skin glowing, Keith couldn't help but wonder it was an altean thing or if lance just had really good skin.

''uhm sure I would lo-like that a lot. thank you'' Keith's sentence was riddled with flustered pauses, great another outing he has to worry about. the group settled down and the conversation grew among them ''so you and lance will be heading to a museum this weekend, what for?'' Rolo inquired as he quirked one eyebrow up.

''well Keith and Shiro will be joining my sister and me at our renewal festival on altea next weekend, he wanted some help with Altea culture so he and I are going to a museum to educate ourselves'' lance explained his cheerful smile never leaving his lips. Rolo nodded slowly in understanding ''so your gonna spend the whole day learning, sounds kind of boring if you ask me'' he said, Keith couldn't help but notice the strange uncomfortable look on Rolos face but chose to ignore.

''Well I don't think it'll be boring, lance seems like he's quite good at making things interesting, I don't think there will be a dull moment with him around'' Keith smiled as he glanced at lance then turned bake to rolo who again had this odd look on his face.

''Oh, will I hope you guys have fun and learn stuff I guess'' Rolo said and ceased his conversation with lance and Keith. the two stared confusingly at each other what could possibly have put Rolo in such an off mood?

Besides rolo behaviour lunch went without a hitch and like the clock sped the day went on.  
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keith could hardly wait till his little 'educational outing ' with lance, he picked his most casual outfit with help from Shiro, he went with a more blue tones than he would normally go for but it worked with the aesthetic of altea, what with it being mostly covered in oceans and ice, how lance managed to wear such revealing clothes was beyond Keith, who was just not built for the cold and had to wrap up quite tightly. keith buckled up tightly in the ship, he watched the purple and red landscape pass by him, the purple looking bluer, the closer they got to altean territory.

It was fascinating to just see how the sides of the planet differed and contrasted, alteas was all bright green skies and icy terrain with icy rivers in comparison to the almost magenta pink that was the skies of daibazaal, accompanied with its purple rocky landscape and lava rivers it was a testament to how different both races were that alone seemed to be enough reason for their people to not get along.

It was almost chilling to switch surroundings like this, but it also showed him that there was still a lot he had to learn and this trip would help him it was also a way to get to know lance more, it was almost impossible to have friends his age being a prince, people either wanted him to ask his father something or get their parents on the royal court. it would be fun to befriend with someone who had the same status as him.

Without Keith realising the ship slowed down at the border where he could already see lance along with two guards. keith stepped down from the ship instructing his guards to stay with the ship as he made his way to lance. ''I thought it best to meet you her and avoid any unwanted situations, you know how the public can be,'' Lance said once he and Keith are face to face.

it didn't take him long to realise Keith had shone a more altean light on his outfit and if he could say so Keith looked quite good in blue.''are you alright with these two accompanying us;; lance asked ''yeah I don't mind at al'' with Keiths answer lance lent an arm towards Keith who gave him a puzzled look ''well its altean culture to lead an unfamiliar guest by the arm'' he answered Keiths unvocalised question, the galra prince nodded and accepted lances arm and linked arms with him and they made their way towards lance's ship.

They flew for minutes, lance pointing out landmarks and telling brief stories about each. ''so then my dad had to make a public apology'' lance finished off yet another story from his childhood involving the biggest statue in the town centre, the waves of laughter from both princes rung through the ship. ''were you allowed near the statue ever again'' Keith asked ''of course not, after publicly 'reliving' myself at a historical statue should have resulted in a fine but I was only 6 still I'm not sure why I did it'' he answered, the laughter still evident in his tone.

''your highness we have arrived'' their conversation cut short by one of the guards ''ah yes, of course, thank you, how crowded does it look'' Lance asked as he helped Keith unbuckle, it seemed senary wasn't the only thing that made them different but also the way the ship worked, the seat belt alone confused Keith beyond belief. ''its a relatively empty day your highness, would you like us to ask for the museum to be emptied?'' ''no that won't be necessary'' lance lead Keith, arms interlocked as they made their way down the stairs and to the museum followed by the guards.

there were a few odd looks, some sneers and whispers but no one would dare try anything whilst the prince around. ''so where do you advice we start'' Keith asked, ''well we can start with why we do the festival, then what it consists of, would that be ok?'' ''yeah that sound fine'' they both roamed around the museum escorted by guards, lance pointing out important facts, arms still linked and lance managing to make Keith laugh on more than one occasion.

''it seem alteans are quite gifted with amazing inventorship, I think that's also something I've noticed, there are a lot more machines to do things we would normally just use enchantments to do, like the basics we have and a lot of technology is shared but something tells me alteans don't really rely on their powers and more on technology, is there a reason for that or just cultural preferences?'' said Keith.

''well i guess its a bit of both, in fact now that you say that I remember there's something I wanted to show you mostly because I would like your input on it'' they took a detour to a less populated area of the museum. ''you see in altea we are taught of the reasons our nation don't get along but I'm sure it's morphed, I mean its been like centuries, so the story must have changed along the way. I guess you could say I'm very interested in what happened but I doubt I'll ever get to the truth'' 

''I understand what you mean, sometimes I look back at the stories I was told and some things just don't link up, so what was the history told here'' Keith questioned. lance cleared him through overly dramatically which caused Keith to crack a smile. Probably best to lighten the mood first.

''well the long and short of it is, that after the two species where made and lived their separate lives, they never really had any interactions with each other, due to uncertainty about the other, I was told that my people say the galra as overly aggressive so don't want to associate with them. after years and years of avoidance, the royal family had a son, Prince Alister, and the kingdom celebrated for months to come.

a year later the king and queen of daibazaal also had a child, the princess, and we are told that that happened because the royal family were copying us but honestly that's a bit of a stretch. Anyways, well skip a few years into the princes young adulthood, according to the accounts the king at the time had written, his son was acting out of the ordinary, almost like was under a spell and left the palace multiple times a day, and one evening the king followed his sun to wherever he went to and discovered he was being 'lured' to the maze in the middle of our land'' lances fingers rose to air quote 'lured'.

''may i'' Keith asked ''of course'' ''what was the prince being lured by'' ''the princess of Daibazaal, according to the stories, its more like she dragged him to the maze, the king called for his guards and ordered that they retrieve the prince and detain the princess, but, something strange happened once they followed the prince. their powers stopped working, they were completely powerless as if they had been born without it like they walked under some barrier that sapped the quintessence right out of them.''

At this Keiths mouthes hung slightly in shock. ''the story becomes really unclear right about now because they say the king of Daibazaal came out of hiding and struck the prince, where he stood, next to his daughter, his gem broke and unleashed a neverending winter, the rivers froze over, the hills became snow mountains. it was speculated that the princess and her father had been planning the murder for months, and that was why the barrier hadn't affected him, and in anger king Cornell supposedly tapped into a power unknown to our people which he then used to kill the princess, causing Daibazaal to be engulfed in flames. Again things aren't really clear as to what happened but it lead to the dragons both left with a promise to return if 'the wrongs of the past are righted' again I'm not really sure what that means'' lance finished.

''I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy, I mean, a pre-planned murder by the king and princess, but why?'' Keith asked. ''well that's one thing we don't know, some say it's because the king was jealous that he didn't have a male successor but the queen was already pregnant with a sun so that seems a bit off, it just doesn't line up'' lance answers. They discuss the holes in the story and try to fill things up the two hadn't realised that it got later and it was almost time for the prince to return home so they said their good buys with a promise to discuss the galra version of the story someday. lance was kind enough to walk Keith back to his ship and send him off, as he returned home he reminisced at his time spent with lance as well as the one-sided story he heard how could that even be, he wondered as his head slowly nodded off to the side and sleep overcame him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone think Rolos acting a bit off......YES, HE IS but why? leave your suggestions in the comments ;)


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